Entrepreneurship Education in the United States:Strengths and Opportunities for Growth

This paper explores the role of entrepreneurship education in a modern economy and how the government, academic, and nonprofit sectors in the United States have responded to this growing field. There are several sectors that play important roles in the entrepreneurship education landscape in the United States. Over the past decade, there has been increasing participation of Federal and state governments. This recent trend suggests the field may be increasing in maturity and legitimacy, showing promise for expanding the reach of entrepreneurship education programs. Programs sponsored by nonprofit organizations and private foundations complement government initiatives and display an effective means of leveraging knowledge and resources across the relevant sectors. Thus, new initiatives, whether initiated by government or academia, should learn from the successes of this sector as well as be carefully considered within the context of existent programs and services. Nonetheless, the potentially dynamic environment of the entrepreneurship education field in the United States offers a specific opportunity to leverage the experience in mentorship activities at the post-secondary education to address a possible gap in these activities at the secondary education level.